Description
Thornes of Bubwith near Selby in East Yorkshire has been a family coach company since 1949, when it was founded by John Thornes, the grandfather of the present directors, carrying the proud slogan Connecting Local Communities since 1949. At the time, it was operated from their Derwent Garage depot in Bubwith. Now the company, Thornes Independent, has the third generation of the family – Jane and Zoe Thornes, both principal directors. Before them, Christine and Philip Thornes carried a host of local holidaymakers on Thornes Motor Services coach holidays throughout the UK, Europe and Scandinavia.
Thornes’ Beadle Leyland Integral No. 32 is a former Maidstone & District commuter coach built in 1952. Known as a Beadle rebuild and registered OKP 980, the renovators utilised mechanical components from a 1937 Leyland TD7 double decker.
It was purchased by J H Thornes in March 1960 and has remained in family ownership ever since. In 1967 it received its first refurbishment. This entailed removing 35 luxury coaching seats and replacing them with 39 service bus seats and a full repaint into a blue and grey livery to match its stable mate, the Seddon/Harrington VHO 200. OKP 980 was withdrawn from the operational fleet in 1971 and then began an exile of 29 years in open storage at the firm’s depot. From 2000 to 2006 it underwent a thorough restoration to bring it back to its former splendour.
Thornes Independent celebrated their 70th Anniversary in 2019 and Oxford has joined the celebrations with the production of this superb 1:76 replica of the single deck Beadle Integral No. 32, OKP 980. Decorated in the blue and grey colour scheme of the original, the destination blind of OKP 980 reads Thornes Motor Services Selby. The company name, address and telephone number of the time feature in white on the back. Exterior trim is finished in silver while the interior has dark green seating and floor. The printing on the sides shows the speed limit as being 30 mph, so the happy occupants would have had plenty of time to admire the view along the way
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